General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,509 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 10,042 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in General Electric were worth $18,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,170,551,000 after acquiring an additional 410,061 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in General Electric by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP increased its stake in General Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $364,157,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in General Electric by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $339,848,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE stock traded down $4.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $163.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,711,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,793,639. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $163.07 and a 200-day moving average of $139.96. General Electric has a twelve month low of $78.17 and a twelve month high of $170.80. The stock has a market cap of $178.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. General Electric's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

General Electric Profile

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.

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